After 'personal reckoning,' Caroline Garcia says she wants to find 'joy' on the court in 2025

For the love of the game: Caroine Garcia says she wants to find "joy" on the court next season after ending her 2024 prematurely.

Following up a lengthy social media post from September where she criticized her own "toxic mindset" that she believes derailed not only her season, but parts of her career, the 31-year-old opened up once again on X, formerly Twitter, to say that she's ready not just for the next season, but for the rest of her time on tour, after a "personal reckoning" that's changed her outlook on tennis.

"I want to discover what it means to play for me—to chase my own goals, to find my own reasons, to finally uncover the joy in being a tennis player," the *Tennis Insider Club* podcast host confessed. "To not let others define me.

"I don’t want winning a Grand Slam or returning to the top 5 to be my goal anymore. I want those achievements to be the outcome—the result of being happy, working hard, and continuously improving as a player and a person."

Read more: Caroline in Cambridge: Garcia enrolls in Harvard Business School program

Garcia shut her season down after the Guadalajara Open Akron shortly after the US Open in September due to what was ostensibly a shoulder injury, only for the former world No. 4 to bare all a few weeks later by writing that the problem, in fact, went much deeper. Over the years, she had been crippled by anxiety and panic attacks, she wrote, as she directly tied her personal self-worth to her on-court results.

But two weeks ago, she returned to the court to start her preseason, following a sabbatical where she studied at Harvard's acclaimed business program for professional athletes, and posted a joyful update that her first days back practicing "exceeded expectations."

The Frenchwoman now says the time away fortified her to fight against her inner demons.

Read more: Caroline Garcia ends 2024 season with heartfelt message posted to social media

"Every day, I’m putting in the work, pushing myself to be ready both physically and mentally," she wrote.

“Most days, I find joy in the process, but there are moments when the shadows creep in—the fear of failure, the fear of not being enough. These thoughts can feel overwhelming, but I’ve come to realize that the real failure would be giving in to them, letting them define me."

Now engaged to longtime partner, and her podcast co-pilot, Borja Duran, Garcia says she wants to make the most of the waning days of her career.

“The focus is no longer on the destination, but on embracing the journey, with all its challenges and beauty. Winning has to be the outcome, not the goal,” she added.

“I want to do it not for the trophies, not for the rankings or for my environment’s expectations or dreams, but for the person I’ll become through the process.

“When this chapter ends, I want to look back and know that I succeeded—not just as an athlete, but as a human being. That I faced every difficulty, every self-doubt, and forged my own path. That I left behind the unbearable weight of expectations and found my way forward with courage and purpose.

“No matter the outcome, I want to look back and say: I did it my way, and that was enough.”